What I Decluttered This Month - 30 Bags In 30 Days

I was so excited about this project that I actually started it much sooner than I had originally planned.  I started on Christmas Day!  I was planning to begin on New Years, but when I got busy cleaning up from opening gifts on Christmas morning it just took off from there.

My inspiration to get started!

Day one I filled up a 32 gallon trash bag with paper trash we collected from opening gifts.  I reorganized the gift wrap tote and added worn out and smashed bows, tissue wrap and some bedraggled gift bags to the trash bag.  Then I made my way through the entire house and emptied trash cans and other odds and ends I found until that bag was completely stuffed.  I gave each girl a grocery bag and they filled them up with trash from their own rooms so our first day was very successful.  Three bags just like that!

The next day I tackled my bedroom closet and filled a large Vanity Fair shopping bag with pillow shams I hadn't used in years, clothing I no longer loved and some miscellaneous items I no longer needed.  Funny thing, three days later I ended up going through my closet once again for a second pass and pulled out four more items to get rid of.

I got rid of all the extra boxes from gifts and purchased items.  I had saved several in case we needed them to wrap gifts with and it turned out we really didn't need any of them.  Into the recycle bin they went.

My youngest was completely overwhelmed with the condition of her bedroom.  We devoted an entire day to clearing everything out, giving it a good clean and then putting back only the items she still loves and uses.  Everything else was donated which included another 32 gallon trash bag of clothing to donate as well as a bag of trash.  We put a lot of packaging, paper and cardboard into the recycle bin.

Lots of stuff leaving the house

While we worked on her bedroom my oldest got busy in her own room and added to the trash bag we had started as well as filling up another 32 gallon bag with clothing and items to donate.  I was proud of both of them for giving up so much stuff and clearing out their rooms.  My youngest is so much happier with her room now and is finding that she is sleeping better too.

Even our pantry got overhauled - 3 times!

I decluttered and reorganized our pantry along with all of the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen.  By combining items and using up stuff I filled up half of our blue recycle bin.  It gave me a lot to think about with regard to how I purchase our groceries and the massive amounts of packaging we have to deal with.  I want to definitely make some changes in that area.  On day 10 I found myself making another pass through the pantry and ended up gifting a huge tub of protein powder to a co-worker.

So much better!

I went through my home office and cleared out a box of Christmas cards I no longer need or want and added that to one of our donation bags.  I also gathered up a few items to add to our shred pile I keep in the hall closet.  I ended up taking that shred pile out to the fire pot and lighting a match to it.

My shred pile.  Gone!

I filled up a grocery bag with notebooks and legal pads I did not want or need and took them into work to be used there.  I also filled up another bag of food items we did not need or want, mostly cookies and candy, and taking that into work as well.

I gathered up all of the glass from three different bins in our garage and put it into a big box.  I took it to the big recycle bin at the grocery store and dumped it.  I then broke down the box and put it into our blue recycle bin when I got home.  My plan moving forward is to make more frequent trips to drop off the glass recycling and not allow it to pile up in the garage anymore.

I spent some time out in the garage tidying up and going through some things.  I was able to let go of quite a few items I'd put out there in case we needed them.  Turns out we didn't so I added them to the trash, recycle bin or a bag for donations.  That felt good too.  At the end of the month I dropped off all of the bags of donations we had gathered at a nearby thrift store.  It feels really good to have all of that stuff out of our house.

Final count on the bags came in at 27.  Not quite the 30 I had intended, but after several passes through our home that was all I could come up with.  I'm pretty happy about it too.  I don't consider 27 bags a failure by any stretch.  The fact that I didn't get to 30 just means I've done a really good job up to now at keeping clutter out of our home.  Moving forward I plan to do a bag a month to keep things maintained.

How did you do with your 30 Bags In 30 Days Challenge?  Did you make it?  How does it feel?

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday morning my oldest daughter drove me to Winco to pick up groceries for the week.  I was planning to do some shopping at Trader Joes too, but found lower prices on some items at Winco which allowed me to pick up an 8 pound bag of oranges for $3.98 instead of the 3 pound bag of mandarins (on sale for $2.99) I was originally planning on picking up at Fred Meyer.  I did a quick adjustment to my shopping list/plan and for $1 more I was able to get 5 more pounds of citrus.

8 pounds of oranges for $3.98!

I was disappointed to see at Winco that a quart of cream was 65¢ more than it was the last time I purchased it (still lower than Albertson's or Fred Meyer), but the romaine lettuce was less so they pretty much canceled each other out.  Avocados were on sale so I picked them up at Winco saving $1 from what I intended to spend at Trader Joes which covered the extra I needed for the big bag of oranges.

Sausage for breakfast $1.99 each

At Fred Meyer I picked up two packages of breakfast sausage on sale for $2.99 and a few bananas with the little bit of change leftover.  I had digital coupons for $1 OFF each one of the packages of breakfast sausage.  I still had a $1 left by the time all was said and done so I picked up a package of slider buns on markdown for 89¢ to go with sloppy joe filling I had in our freezer.  It worked out perfectly for the girl's lunches throughout the week.  I also picked up two Friday Freebies at Fred Meyer I had downloaded to my store card.  Total spent last week on groceries came in at $19.67.  Yay!  I'm really in the zone now!  Ha, ha.

Coupons = $$ earned

Monday the girls were out of school for Martin Luther King Day.  The rest of the week was the usual flurry of activity all the way through to Friday being our busiest day.  After work on Friday I picked up the youngest from a basketball game she cheered at, we headed home for a quick supper of reheated leftovers, got everyone back into the car and then dropped the oldest off to play in the pep band at a basketball game.  While we waited for her game to finish the youngest and I headed over to the mall where I used a gift card at Dillards to pay for a new pair of black slacks me to wear to work.  I crossed that item off my list leaving only two or three pair of dress socks left for what I still need to replace in my closest.  Best of all, no money out of my pocket to get the pants and I still have $8 left on the card to spend on something else!  Yes!

A quick trip into Walgreens with my coupons yielded these for 99¢ each!

I had a small list of miscellaneous items to pick up so once the oldest was done at the game we headed to Walmart since it was close and carries what we needed to buy.  I bought a travel pillow to use as a pillow form for $3.48 (I have a quick project planned for that), a package of plastic wide mouth lids for my canning jars for $2.98, a large package of toilet paper (I had a coupon) for $3.97, two quarts of cream for $3.34 each (a keto necessity for me and best price in town right now) and a jumbo can of whipped cream for $2.64.  While I was there I priced dish cloths, but did not buy any.  The toilet paper was paid for from my non food budget and I used my miscellaneous budget to pay for the rest.  First time I'd spent from that budget this month.  I still have $2 remaining in my non food budget which I do plan to spend.  The rest of the miscellaneous budget will likely remain untouched and will be rolled into my savings account.  Yippeee!

Delicious minestrone soup topped with grated parmesan
Chicken tortilla soup is pictured at top

I made chili, minestrone and chicken tortilla soups for our evening meals throughout the week using all ingredients I had on hand in the pantry and freezer.  We used up some of the leftover dinner rolls and corn muffins we had in the freezer.  I also made a few fresh green salads to go with the soups.

Lemon blueberry cheesecake! Yum!!!

Saturday I had a couple of my girlfriends come over for lunch.  I made taco salads and a keto lemon blueberry cheesecake for dessert using ingredients I already had on hand.  No extra trip to the grocery store or extra $$ required.

We finished up all of our leftovers last week so no food was wasted.  I packed a lot of really good lunches for me to take to work and the girls to school.  We used up a bunch of odds and ends I found in the pantry including a box of crackers leftover from the holidays, an unfinished package of Oreos minis, a package of dried cranberries, some leftover chocolate chips and a box of PopTarts.

New lids for my wide mouth canning jars

I found two more partial bags of raw shrimp in the chest freezer I didn't know I still had bringing my total to three unfinished packages.  Not sure what is up with that!  I went ahead and prepared what was left of one of them to go with our supper one evening.  I'll be sure and use up the other one soon.  Fortunately none of the shrimp was or is freezer burnt.

I washed out and reused several ziploc bags throughout the week.

I sold two gift cards I didn't need or want at face value.  Nice to have the cash instead.

Warm vanilla sugar scented shower gel used to make refill solution

I used a tablespoon of shower gel and a cup of warm water to make refill solution for the foaming handsoap dispenser in our kitchen.

I worked an hour of overtime.  Not much, but it does add up.

The chickens blessed us with some more eggs last week.  We gave them our kitchen scraps and kept them happy.  I added a fresh pile of leaves I had mulched last fall to their run area which gave them something to scratch around in as well as helps keep the mud under control.

I had a visitor come to see me, of course I had a treat for her

We composted coffee grounds, tea bags, banana peels, orange peels, onion skins, avocado skins and egg shells.  After two passes through our garage we were able to purge enough to nearly fill up our trash bin and our recycle bin.  We set both out to the curb for collection last week.

I checked out the ads and downloaded some digital coupons to make up my next grocery list and planned out which stores I needed to go to.  I went online and printed six more coupons from Coupons.com and used scrap paper in my printer.  I also went to a couple brand websites to download coupons for toilet paper and deodorant.  In ten minutes I was able to acquire $5.50 in usable coupons.  Not bad wages if you think about it.

Another visitor that came to see me

I watched a few videos on YouTube about strategic shopping to see if I could get some better ideas to use in the future, but so far all I've seen is the purchasing of a lot of processed junk I don't want or would use.

Fred Meyer didn't have a Friday Freebie last week, however Albertson's did so I downloaded a coupon good for a free package of instant mashed potatoes.

I made a new stack of cleaning rags out of some old towels I cut up.

A nice new stack of cleaning rags

Some of the 15 Minute Chores I accomplished to keep my home in order:

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - wiped down appliances, vacuumed floor & rug.  Daily swish & swipe.

Dining Room - vacuumed floor, washed kitty nose prints off of the window

Kitchen -  vacuumed floor, cabinet under the sink and cabinet where the toaster is stored.  Cleaned microwave, stove top and range hood.

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - vacuumed & dusted.  My oldest cleaned the bathroom.

Other - four loads of laundry, dusted & vacuumed living room, hallway & entry, washed the kitty nose prints off the living room window.  Swept front porch.

How was your thrifty week?

Christmas Cards & Saving My $$

One of my goals this year is to use up what I already have.  I went through all of the leftover Christmas cards I have in my stash and found I have plenty of cards to send out this next Christmas.  I also have enough Christmas stamps leftover to mail them with.  I have loads of Christmas stickers and plenty of return address labels too.  I put the cards, envelopes and stamps away into my Christmas journal for safekeeping and now I am all set.

The rest of the cards I had leftover I decided to put into our donate bag as part of our 30 Bags In 30 Days challenge.  I really like to make my own Christmas cards too so that is what I plan to do next year, but for this year I will use up the extra cards I have set aside.

Some of the cards I had in my stash were part of a bag of Christmas goodies I had picked up last year at a thrift store.  The bag had gift boxes, gift tags, stickers and miscellaneous wrapping supplies in it along with a nice handful of cards and envelopes.  I paid $1 for that bag and I've used quite a lot of the items that were in it.  I've definitely gotten my money's worth and I still am.  Thrift stores are a great place to pick up leftover Christmas items for mere pennies, especially off season.

I always type up a letter to tuck inside our Christmas cards.  Last year I used up some Christmas stationery I had purchased quite a long time ago to print the letters on.  This year I'm going to use up some nice linen stationery a friend gave me when she cleaned out her desk.  It is really nice paper and will work perfectly for this purpose.

I have to tell you I'm really excited to have all of my cards, stamps and supplies ready for the next Christmas season.  One thing already checked off of my list and off my mind.  I'm even more excited that I'll get to do all of this without spending anymore money.  Yay!

Homemade Suet Cakes

You've probably guessed I really love my chickens.  And yes, they might be just a little bit spoiled.  All my pets are just a little bit spoiled to some extent, I suppose.  😄

I like my hens to have  plenty of variety in their diet.  It not only nourishes them, but keeps boredom at bay so they are happier.  I give them a lot of vegetables from our kitchen because I typically buy more produce than we consume and that allows me to make up big "salads" for my girlies.

For special occasions like holidays, and just because, I like to make them special treats like homemade suet cakes.  I save rendered beef and pork fat from cooking into containers and keep it in the freezer for just this purpose.  Ground beef gives off a lot of fat when you cook it so it is perfect for saving for this purpose.  Once it is poured off I allow it to cool and lift off the fat, put it into a container and freeze it until I have enough.

In the microwave I melt enough fat to equal 1/2 a cup.  I use a flexible plastic container, like an empty Cool Whip container and stir it into 2 cups of scratch grains.  Once all the grains have been well coated in fat I pat it out flat into the container and place it in the freezer overnight. 

You can make a variety of different ones by adding in different things like dried meal worms, dried raisins, blueberries or cranberries, nuts, sunflower seeds, etc.  Pretty much anything that is safe for chickens.  The chicken blocks they sell at the feed stores have molasses in them so you can add that in as well.  The last one I made I added in 2 Tbs of molasses to the melted fat and some raisins to the scratch grains.  We thought it smelled good enough to eat ourselves.

Once it is solid I can pop the suet cake out of the container and place it into a freezer bag.  I like to keep them in the freezer until I am ready to give it to them.  In the colder months this rich fat source is a great thing to give your hens.  It is also a great way to use up something you might otherwise just drain off and toss in the trash.

Giveaway Winner!!!

Drum roll please......................!  Congratulations!!!

Okay ladies!  Email me your addresses to thriftymom.boise@gmail.com and I'll get your transfers mailed out to you.  Thank you so much for putting in for the giveaway.  😁

Pork Basil Soup

This is a delicious and simple soup to prepare.  It has a few Thai influences and is one of our favorites.

Pork Basil Soup

2 pork loin chops, thinly sliced

1/2 small onion, thinly sliced

1 can water chestnuts, rinsed and drained

1 can coconut milk

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups shredded coleslaw mix

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 Tbs. dried basil

2 Tbs. soy sauce

1 Tbs. sciracha sauce (optional)

1 Tbs. olive oil

In a large pot over medium heat place oil.  Heat to coat pan, add pork and onions and cook until no longer pink and onions are soft.  Add remaining ingredients.  Fill coconut milk can with warm water and add to soup.  Stir well and simmer about 20 minutes.

My girls enjoy this soup over rice while I enjoy it just on its own.  Served up with a big salad it makes a perfect meal.  Comes together quickly too.  If you aren't into spice just leave out the siracha.  I actually add a little more to mine because we like the heat and I use heaping teaspoons of garlic too.  You can taste and adjust to your liking.

What's In My Kitchen Cupboards?

Do you ever want to peek inside another person's cupboards just to see what lurks inside?  My grandmother told me that ever since I was a small child I always liked to take a peek inside a drawer or a cabinet to see what might be there.  Her junk drawer was my favorite!

Our junk drawer

I personally love all things kitchen so that is pretty much where my fascination ends.  Bathrooms and bedrooms are safe, but a craft room might be a whole other story.  Today I thought I'd share with you what I keep in my kitchen.

Our daily dishes and glassware

I love dishes.  I love all things vintage like glassware and older cooking utensils.  I love the sweet old floral patterns on vintage plates.  And china, oh my goodness, I love old fashioned china!

Towels, potholders & dish cloths

And if you've followed this blog for very long you know I have a wee bit of a passion for vintage Pyrex, especially the pink and aqua blue.  I keep an entire cupboard of the stuff in my dining room as well as some in my kitchen.  And I use it too!  Every day.

Silverware drawer

I don't believe there is any point to having things in your home you don't use and enjoy so even if it is a collection of mine it is a working collection which makes it all the more special.  I feel the same way about my everyday dishes and utensils.

A set of mixing bowls plus our food storage containers and jars

My daily dishware is Frost White Corelle and I keep a service of 8 dinner plates along with bread and salad plates, bowls and a few serving pieces.  I bought 8 of the square lunch plates which we use most often for our meals and find them to be the perfect size.  The dinner plates seem to be too large in my opinion, but I keep them to use as serving pieces and for dinner parties.

Bags, wraps, shower hats too

Freezer containers and lids for my canning jars

My daily silverware is a set of Onieda stainless steel tableware.  It has endured us for many, many years although some of the spoons have gone missing so I added a few inexpensive ones to the mix.

Cooking utensil drawer with measuring cups & spoons

I keep a junk drawer with a few compartmentalized food storage containers inside to help me keep it somewhat organized.  Every few months I go through it and pull things out to put away in their proper place, toss out things I don't need it and then tidy up what remains.

Stuff to bake with

I have a drawer for cooking utensils and another one for plastic wrap, aluminum foil, waxed paper and an assortment of food storage bags and shower hats.  Freezer containers, lids for my canning jars and extra wrap and bags are stored in the bottom drawer.

  

Stuff to cook with

Above the stove I keep my cupboard for cookbooks on the right and coffee and teas on the left.

Coffees, teas and cookbooks

The cupboard left of the stove holds dried herbs, spices and oils for cooking.  The one above the microwave keeps my baking supplies and spices like cinnamon, ginger, clove, etc., sprinkles, cupcake papers, as well as our sugar bowl and butter dish.

The skinny drawer next to the stove is a good place to keep boxes of gelatin and pudding.  The cabinet below it is a perfect place to store my cutting boards, pizza stones, baking sheets and cooling racks.  It has a center divider to help keep it contained and somewhat organized.

Cutting boards & baking sheets

You've all seen underneath our sink where I keep our cleaning supplies and a bucket lined with a plastic grocery bag for trash.  Ever since I upgraded it under there with a coat of paint and floor tiles it has been a very nice space that is easy to keep clean and tidy.

Under the sink

Appliances and baking pans

So there you have it.  That is a peek inside my kitchen cabinets, just in case you might be curious.  😏